Six-monthly review

All ACA students must have a review meeting with their counsellor or QPRT (qualified person responsible for training) every six months. This is a requirement of the ACA training agreement.

Ultimately, it is the student’s responsibility to arrange these reviews. However, as an employer, you should do everything you can to facilitate these meetings. Refusal to do so can jeopardise your student’s progress and can affect the authorisation status of your organisation.

The purpose of the six-monthly review

• What your student has learnt during the last six months.
• Study and exam progress.
• Review and discuss progress of initial professioanl development (IPD) requirements.
• Review and discuss the technical work experience (TWE) they have gained in the last six months.
• Review and discuss any audit experience they have gained in the last six months.
• Review and discuss the structured training in ethics (STE) they have completed.
• Any additional experience, activity or action is required where further development is necessary.
• Sign off required levels or stages of IPD, STE and work experience form.

If you have an accredited IPD system you may use your own appraisal records. Any organisation using the ICAEW IPD scheme should use ICAEWs IPD online records. All students should complete ICAEW’s evidence of technical work experience form (ETWE). Any student who gains audit experience should also complete the Audit Qualification application form (PDF 76KB/11 pages) .

Conducting a six-monthly review

You should consider spending about an hour at each review meeting which should cover three areas

1. Discuss and determine progress (across all four essential elements of the ACA: exams, IPD, TWE and STE).
2. Agree any development points and suitable timescales.
3. Complete all relevant sign off

Sign offs

• Complete and sign your student’s latest six-monthly review form.
• Complete and sign your student’s evidence of technical work experience (ETWE) form.
• To complete this form you’ll also need to consider whether:
• your student is fit and proper to continue training; and
• the number of technical work experience days recorded, and any audit experience noted, is correct.
• Online sign offs (via ICAEW website)
• Complete online sign offs for each IPD stage
• Complete online sign offs for each STE level